Professor of Economics, Founding Co-Director of the Harvard Equality of Opportunity Project

Harvard University

Bio

Nathaniel Hendren is a Professor of Economics at Harvard University and a Founding Co-Director of Harvard University’s Opportunity Insights. His work is motivated by the question: Do markets provide opportunity? He uses a combination of theoretical and empirical analysis to document the extent of equality of opportunity, understand when and why markets may fail to provide it, quantify the impact of these market failures, and provide tools to normatively evaluate potential policy solutions. His work has documented the extent of equality of opportunity across a range of domains, from the inability of individuals to purchase insurance, to the difficulties faced by low-income children seeking upward mobility, and more recently the disparities in intergenerational mobility experienced by children of different races. In some cases, forces like asymmetric information prevents market existence, such as insurance markets for those with “preexisting health conditions. Professor Nathaniel Hendren is Founding Co-Director of ‘Opportunity Insights,’ Co-Editor of ‘The Journal of Public Economics’ and Associate Editor of ‘American Economic Association: Insights.’ In recognition of his research excellence has been a recipient of a Sloan Research
Fellowship and a Harvard University Furer Fellow. In December 2018 The Economist named him as one of “the decade’s eight best young economists.” Professor Nathaniel Hendren holds a PhD in economics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.